Examining Mike Mignola's Hellboy

The year was 1993. In comics, Superman had died, Batman's back was broken, Spider-man had clones, the X-men were becoming a convoluted mess, and dark and gritty ruled the day in titles like Spawn and Savage Dragon. It was in this climate that Hellboy was born. The lovable red demon became a household name and would eventually be the main part of Mike Mignola's Mignolaverse, a universe that, as of this writing, includes hundreds of comics and dozens of characters. Today, the Mignolaverse is the largest creator-owned comics universe, inspiring 3 live-action films, 2 animated films, toys, and even a video game or two.

But, where did it all begin? What inspired Mike Mignola to create Hellboy? Before this, he was an artist who was known for doing fill-in art jobs on major comics titles like Superman, as well as being a cover artist for various Batman comics. To hear him tell it, he got into comics to draw monsters and wanted to create something where he could just draw monsters all day, everyday, for forever. 

There was some initial hesitation on Mignola's part however, because, initially, he didn't believe that his concept was strong enough. Nor did he believe enough in his abilities to actually tell a story with his new creation. As a result, Mignola enlisted John Byrne to write and script the first Hellboy story, based on Mignola's own plot. This became the wonderful debut known as Seed of Destruction.

Hellboy's debut does everything an origin story should. It introduces the main character, gives a compelling backstory, introduces Rasputin (yes, that Rasputin), along with other supporting characters, and tells one hell of an adventure. Hellboy (who appears in 1944 during an American operation in Germany) loses his adoptive father, Professor Bruttenholm (pronounced "Broom"). He then goes to investigate a mystery at an old castle, along with Abe Sapien (a fish-man), Liz Sherman (a pyro-kinetic), and other members of the government agency, the B.P.R.D. (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense). Hellboy discovers his link to the Nazi occultists and must stop the resurrection of Rasputin as the ultimate evil to bring forth the return of Nazism.

Following Seed of Destruction, Mignola took over for 11 more stories (the main Hellboy canon) as writer/artist, publishing sporadically throughout the 90's and into the 2000's. Several now-legendary artists like Duncan Fegredo and Richard Corben sometimes helped with art chores. Throughout the stories, Hellboy encounters all kinds of monsters from folklore. He battles the Baba Yaga witch, corpses, demons, the troll witch, and others, until the Queen of Blood causes his death. Wow! From there, Hellboy enters Hell and has several adventures.  

Mignola moved on to scripting two spin-off series, B.P.R.D. that occasionally told stories of a young Hellboy and his relationship to the Bureau, and my favorite series, Lobster Johnson, Mignola's tribute to sci-fi/pulp crime fighters.

All in all, the Hellboy canon is incredible storytelling with varying quality in art. This is a gothic horror masterpiece that elevates the comics medium and has been compared to the best Jack Kirby characters. Mignola's art is very Kirby-esque at times. Fans of monster stories definitely need to check it out, if they haven't already.

Lobster Johnson: A Wonderful Homage to Pulp Heroes

While Mike Mignola is best known for his Hellboy franchise, and its spin-off series, B.P.R.D. (the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense), his truly unsung creation is a character called The Lobster (published as Lobster Johnson). Such a character works so well in the Hellboy universe, sometimes referred to as the “Mignolaverse,” precisely because he is a throwback to the pulp heroes of the 1930’s and 1940’s.   

As a major fan of pulpy heroes and pulp-inspired superheroes like Batman, I have enjoyed this series probably more than any other comic published after the year 2000. This is the only ongoing series in recent memory that acts as a meditation on the mystery men and pulp-action heroes from the Golden Age of pulp magazines. It builds its own mythology while giving credence to the tropes and conventions of pulp fiction in an incredibly entertaining and fresh way.

The Lobster’s story is very easy to follow if you have never read a Hellboy comic, so it works very well as a standalone saga. Within the Mignolaverse, the public, in modern times, believes the Lobster to be merely a fictional character called Lobster Johnson that was created by a retired detective turned writer. He did exist, however, as a vigilante in 1930s New York. He had a group of assistants (similar to The Shadow’s agents) that helped him fight crime and injustice. He is unique amongst masked crime fighters in that his true identity and origin remain a mystery.

Like most other men of mystery, The Lobster was an expert combatant. He usually wielded a pistol that has been dubbed by some as “The Lobster’s Claw.” He has been known to use other weapons on occasion as well. Like The Spider before him, The Lobster could be very violent at times. After killing mobsters and criminals he burned his calling card, a lobster claw symbol, into their foreheads.

The Lobster also seemed to have incredible endurance, at times living through explosions and heavy gunfire. No explanation has been given as to how he could survive such attacks. He did, however, possess technology that was advanced for its time. He used a bulletproof vest on occasion, and he also possessed a radio that was small enough to fit inside his helmet. Inventions like these, along with help from his assistants, may explain his ability to survive. He is not invulnerable though, as he has been shown to get injured and even bleed.

His first appearance was in a backup story featured in Hellboy: Box Full of Evil #1. The story was called The Killer in My Skull and featured a scientist, Stanley Corn, that worked for Zinco-Davis Laboratories. The scientist is responsible for the deaths of 4 other lab workers, killing them with furniture. The Lobster determines that Corn was doing “brain research” and that the scientist has been able to use his mind to telepathically kill. Corn shoots himself after The Lobster confronts him. Then Corn’s brain launches out of his skull and attempts to kill The Lobster. The Lobster reacts and the brain dies. It’s a pretty strange first appearance for any character but Mignola’s art serves this bizarre tale well.

The Lobster received his own series beginning with Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus #1 (published Sep. 5^th, 2007). The Lobster’s stories vary from full 5-issue mini-series to short stories and one shots. As of this writing, there have been 31 issues and 6 trade paperbacks released for the series. His universe and mythos allow for genre-bending tales, from straight up horror stories, sci-fi, crime fiction or just good, old-fashioned high-stakes action-adventure. If you have never heard of The Lobster, have been thinking about branching out into other parts of the Mignolaverse or just want to read great action-adventure comic books, you can’t go wrong with this series.

My Top Ten Comic Book/Superhero Movies

The following is a ranking of, what I consider to be, the best comic book movies ever made. There are many great superhero films and as a result this list was hard to compile.

I rate these movies on 3 criteria:

1) Faithfulness: Does the film boil the source material or character(s) down to its essence, hit the major points of the character or at least give a decent idea to the viewer of what the mythos is all about?

2) Entertainment Value: Is the film entertaining? Does it leave the viewer with a sense of wonder, amusement or enjoyment?

3) Story: Does the film tell a compelling story? Does the story fit the character?
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10) Hellboy (2004)

Although director Guillermo Del Toro took some liberties with the movie version of Hellboy, this film tells a compelling story. The film is well paced and gives a succinct origin for the hero, hitting many of the major beats of the first Hellboy story, Seed of Destruction. For many people, myself included, this was what got them into the Hellboy comics.
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9) Road To Perdition (2002)

Although not a superhero movie, this film is based on one of the greatest graphic novels ever written. Famed crime fiction writer, Max Allan Collins wrote a fast paced, suspenseful tale that was turned into one of the greatest modern noir films. Tom Hanks was brilliantly cast as the lead, Michael Sullivan. This should be held up as an example that great comic book movies don’t have to feature long underwear characters.
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8) Batman Begins (2005)

While this is probably the best Batman movie ever made on a filmic level, it forsakes much of the fantasy of a superhero in favor of grounded realism. The film is a master class in dramatic storytelling, taking its main cue from the story, Batman Year One. It even manages to tell a great origin story, playing on the fears of a post-9/11 world. However, it misses the escapism that a great superhero story can provide. This is a great Batman movie. The rest of the Dark Knight trilogy, while well-made films, are not good adaptations and explicate too much.
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7) Spider-man 2 (2004)

This movie is the most impressive statement about Spider-man ever put to screen. It boils everything about the classic Stan Lee/Steve Ditko creation down to its essence and features, arguably, the best villain in Spider-man’s rogues gallery, Doctor Octopus. It’s a movie with great action, a fun story, and is probably as close as classic Spidey will ever come to being straight off the page.
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6) The Avengers (2012)

This film is probably the best superhero team movie ever made. It is the blueprint for how to film a team of superheroes. It builds off of many of the solo hero movies that gave birth to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and manages to be mostly faithful to the origin of the team. Impressive visual effects and a credible villain make this film an entertaining spectacle.
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5) Wonder Woman (2017)

Before seeing this I had not been very impressed with DC’s attempt at a cinematic universe for their heroes. Man of Steel and Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice were not that great. Wonder Woman changed my mind. It is one of the best superhero films to ever come out of DC and one of the best superhero movies of the last few years. Gal Gadot is impressive in her role as the Amazon Princess but the story is what really blew me away. There is faithfulness to the origin and it works well as a period film.
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4) The Rocketeer (1991)

The Rocketeer is the perfect example of a pulpy action adventure film. It tells an engaging story, features plenty of action, has heart and is one of the most faithful adaptations of a graphic novel ever put to screen. Billy Campbell is perfectly cast as The Rocketeer and Timothy Dalton expertly plays the villainous Neville Sinclair. Jennifer Connelly isn’t too bad either. This is one of the greatest adventure films ever made.
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3) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles nails the tone of its source material better than any superhero movie ever made. It perfectly captures the gritty, fun and absurd flavor of the original comic book. It adds a few details from the wildly popular cartoon show of the late 80’s and melds everything that was ever good about the TMNT into a masterpiece. Its compelling story is constructed out of bits and pieces of the first dozen issues of the original comic series. It’s probably the greatest TMNT movie that could ever be made.

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2) Batman (1989)

This film is more style over substance and doesn’t really feature much of a plot, but its importance in the pantheon of superhero movies cannot be denied. I rank this so highly as a superhero movie almost purely out of childhood nostalgia. It takes liberties with the mythos and is very indicative of the time it was created in. That being said, every time I watch it, I am impressed and awed by the set pieces and the mood. The film is such an entertaining spectacle, and gives me such a feeling of joy, that it will forever be one of my favorites. It’s also the purest expression, in live action anyway, of the Batman from the 70’s and 80’s, my favorite eras in the bat books. For more on this movie, go here.
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1) Superman: The Movie (1978)

In 1978, when Superman was released, director Richard Donner delivered a blueprint for all future superhero movies to follow. This is the gold standard for all comic book films. Christopher Reeve was perfectly cast as Superman. The story was an epic three-act fantasy that also served as a compelling origin. The effects were like nothing ever seen at the time and are especially impressive because they were all practical effects. It perfectly captures the essence of Superman’s character and is an affectionate tribute to one of pop-culture’s most important icons.
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HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

The Dark Knight (2008)

X2: X-men United (2003)

Black Panther (2018)

Iron Man 2 (2010)

The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)